EDITORIAL

About a year ago, I noticed a recipe for radish pasta on one of my favorite food websites. Within a week of that interaction, my ever wise fellow foodie Marie C. came over for a baking session. Spotting some radishes I had purchased at the Park Slope Food Coop on my counter, she raved: "Those are amazing! The tops are really delicious in pasta, you know."

Hence, the bug was in my ear. I checked out the recipe on said food website, whipped it up and was...totally nonplussed. That said, Marie's word is not one I take lightly, so I knew there was a way I could make it better. It just took a few tries.

A year later and a dozen attempts since, I've finally found a variation on radish pasta that I feel is worthy of my beautiful radish greens. Featuring a mixture of bright, briny and tangy flavors, it's a dish that satiates on many levels.

Radish Pasta

Ingredients

1 cup dry pasta (I used quinoa, but you can go for the normal gluten-rich kind if you like!)

4 anchovies (the grey kind, not the fancy ones)

1 bunch radish tops, sliced into ribbons

4 radishes, sliced

zest of one lemon

1/4-1/3 cup labne

olive oil (for cooking)

extra virgin olive oil (for finishing)

freshly cracked pepper, to taste

parmesan, to taste

Instructions

Boil a large pot of salted water. Wash and prepare mise en place for all ingredients.

Heat a large pan and add a small amount of olive oil. (Better yet, if your anchovies were packed in oil, use that oil.)

Once oil is warmed, add anchovies. Simultaneously add pasta to boiling water. (Set a timer for your pasta for 1 minute less than the box says it should cook).

Once anchovies are heated through, break up into a paste. Add sliced radishes to pan and sauté.

Once radishes are slightly translucent, add radish tops and lemon zest to pan. Sauté until radish tops are wilted.

Remove pasta whenever necessary. Drain, retaining a small amount of pasta water. Drizzle with EVOO to prevent pasta from sticking.

Once greens are wilted, add labne to pan to create a sort of cream sauce. Once warmed through, add your pasta to the vegetables/sauce. Mix well, adding reserved pasta water as needed.

Plate your pasta and finished with freshly cracked pepper and parmesan, to taste.